Accident Beechcraft V35B N912DB,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 293242
 
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Date:Friday 5 August 2005
Time:12:36 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic BE35 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Beechcraft V35B
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N912DB
MSN: D-9725
Engine model:Continental IO-520BB
Fatalities:Fatalities: / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Denali Park, Alaska -   United States of America
Phase: Unknown
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Fairbanks International Airport, AK (FAI/PAFA)
Destination airport:Anchorage-Merrill Field, AK (MRI/PAMR)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The private pilot was operating his airplane under Title 14, CFR Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight. He was participating in a group flight-seeing trip touring Alaska, that departed the state of Washington several days earlier. Each of the group's ten participants had provided their own airplanes for the tour. Prior to the accident flight, the group had been briefed by the group leader, an experienced commercial pilot with significant Alaska mountain flight experience, on the suggested route and altitudes through mountainous terrain to a rendezvous at another airport. An FAA inspector also made a presentation to the group that morning on some of the hazards associated with flying in the mountains. The group departed in small groups at close intervals. The accident pilot and two other pilots elected to initially fly a course parallel to the one suggested, up a different drainage/canyon. The intent was to join the suggested route later in the flight. A pilot flying above and behind the accident airplane noted that there was steeply rising terrain at the end on the canyon, and he started his climb before the accident pilot to clear a saddle between two peaks. He stated that the accident pilot, who was about 700-1000 feet lower than him, started his climb too late, and collided with a rock face, about 300 feet below the 5,000 feet msl saddle. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire. Inspection of the airplane disclosed signatures on the propeller and associated components consistent with a high power setting at impact. The pilot flying behind the accident pilot stated that there were no distress calls from the pilot prior to impact, and that the weather was not a factor in the accident. Other pilots flying in the vicinity noted that the wind was either calm or light, with no associated turbulence, with ample clearance between the ridges and the higher cloud layers.

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance from mountainous terrain while climbing, and his improper in-flight decision making by electing to fly at a low altitude toward rising terrain. A factor associated with the accident was mountainous terrain.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ANC05FA121
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB ANC05FA121

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
09-Oct-2022 17:48 ASN Update Bot Added

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